YOU'RE ALL MINE - ch 25

YOU’RE ALL MINE - ch 25

(the magic of Midnight)

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Morena called Brian’s cell phone. “Hi, Brian. It looks like I’ll be a bit late coming home. There’s some kind of stomach bug going around. There have been several people coming in with severe cramps and diarrhea. We are not overloaded but the diarrhea and vomiting seemed to take forever to ease off. I'll stop by Shauna's on my way home. I'm thinking of fish and chips for supper is that OK?”

Brian smiled “Honey it's great but since this is Friday, if you get a few minutes call ahead or you'll find yourself waiting longer than need be.”

As he disconnected the call, he heard Mia come in the back door, then watched her walk to the refrigerator and pour at Midnight some of her special feline milk.

“Mia your mom will be a little late. Seems the clinic is very busy with people who have stomach discomfort.”

Before she spoke Mia smiled as she poured the milk in Midnight's bowl then turned to look at her father, “Is that so? Wonder what's going on. Dad, would you like some tea? I'm going to make a cup for myself.”

Because of her blasé attitude, Brian eyed his daughter suspiciously, but only responded, “Mia, that sounds great. You make the tea, and I'll get the cookies Finola dropped off yesterday.”

“Cookies, dad? I know you really want one of her cranberry scones.”

“You know me well, my sweetness, but your mom will be bringing home fish dinners from Shauna’s and I'm not going to spoil my appetite, so cookies it is.”

A few hours later Morena walked through the front door and plopped her purse and medical kit on the floor near the front window and placed the bag with the food on the table. “Whew! What a day!”

“How many people were affected?” Brian asked.

She sat still for only a few minutes before standing and walking to the cabinets for plates and silverware. “Brian, that's the odd part. There were only five, so we're assuming it was something they'd eaten but not everyone in the family ate the same thing, so it's a bit puzzling. They'll be staying overnight with two on-call nurses staying with them.”

She set the table, as Mia opened the bag with their supper. “Mia,” her mother began to say, “if you travel away from the house, please be careful. Your dance is only 5 days away and I don't want you to get anything that might be going around.”

Mia smiled but quickly extinguished her grin as she said, “I'll be careful, mom. I promise. Midnight has even agreed to allow me to take her to Uncle Ian so he can cut her nails and bathe her.” Midnight scowled, but mumbled, “anything for you, mo chroi.”

“You know, It's a good thing you turned down Tim Dwyer. It was Tim and his family that came into the clinic. He vomited so violently, that I was sure that any second, he'd be vomiting blood. He also needed to take a bucket into the toilet area with him since every movement he made caused the diarrhea to spurt out. Poor kid. I really felt bad for him and his family.”

Mia placed a forkful of haddock in her mouth and only made the sound, “hmm.“

Brian looked at his daughter and said, “You don't seem very sympathetic to his plight, Mia. Are you still angry at his left-handed dance invitation?”

Mia took her time swallowing the fish, then replied. “Dad, first of all, it wasn't so much an invitation as it was an assumption. And no, I'm no longer angry. Dad, anger is an emotion. To me, Tim doesn't even exist. To be angry would indicate that I care, and I don't.”

Morena sat still and only stared at her daughter. She'd never heard such coldness come from her daughter's lips. She felt Brian's foot nudged hers under the table and saw the look in his eyes that said, ‘leave it alone.’

While she was itching to ask her daughter what was going on, Morena took Brian’s suggestion to heart and didn’t pry. She knew her daughter. If and when Mia was ready to confide in her, she would. For now, she’d ‘leave it alone,’ as her husband suggested.

Yet, she had to ask, “Mia, are you alright? To be perfectly honest, these past few days, you’ve seemed very distracted. Is everything going well with school?”

Mia knew her parents were worried, but also knew the time wasn’t right to explain what she’d done. She heard Midnight purr, “You’ll know when the time is right, IF it’s right. Don’t fret, mo chroi. Enjoy your haddock. But try and save me a few nibbles. The fresh haddock smells a lot better than that canned tuna you gave me earlier.”

Mia laughed for the first time in days. When her father asked what was so funny, she told him, “Midnight said the haddock smells better than the tuna I have her. She wants me to save her some.”

Morena stood. “There’s no need to save her a few crumbs.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a small box. After rinsing out Midnight’s small bowl that was licked clean, she placed the piece of haddock. “Here you go, beautiful. Just for you!”

Midnight rubbed her face into the leg of Morena’s pants and meowed loudly, then all but dove into the bowl of fish.

“Well,” Morena said, “guess all’s right with the world now, isn’t it?”